Is there a custom renderType/userFunc for plugins?

t3root · December 21, 2021, 1:23pm

Is there a method/way to render a custom backend element?

What I’m looking for is a way to, within a plugin, skip FlexForms and freely render custom HTML in the backend.

I have found that it’s possible to render HTML on any of the tabs using a combination of

‘renderType’ => ‘specialField’,
addTCAcolumns
addToAllTCAtypes

TYPO3-Documentation/t3docs-examples/blob/adae4d1eb1c9b7888d0d1a3cf7df70a3b5ee018c/Configuration/TCA/Overrides/fe_users.php#L45

    
      
                      'size' => 1,
                      'maxitems' => 1,
                  ],
              ],
              'tx_examples_special' => [
                  'exclude' => 0,
                  'label' => 'LLL:EXT:examples/Resources/Private/Language/locallang_db.xlf:fe_users.tx_examples_special',
                  'config' => [
                      'type' => 'user',
                      // renderType needs to be registered in ext_localconf.php
                      'renderType' => 'specialField', 
                      'parameters' => [
                          'size' => '30',
                          'color' => 'blue',
                      ],
                  ],
              ],
          ];
          
          
\TYPO3\CMS\Core\Utility\ExtensionManagementUtility::addTCAcolumns('fe_users', $temporaryColumns);

I, however, need this renderType call to happen when selecting a plugin while adding a content element.
Can this be accomplished at all in Typo3 or are FlexForms the only method of rendering backend plugin configuration UI’s?

tomalo.stuttgart · January 18, 2022, 11:00am

FlexForms are not the only method of rendering. As you answered yourself you can create an own field where you can use the HTML you want for your form field.

t3root · February 10, 2022, 2:13pm

Yeah, you’re right. I was just confused by the different methods that could render the wanted layout.

Briefly, this was the key to what we needed

<settings.pluginOptions>
	<TCEforms>
		<label>Configuration options</label>
		<config>
			<type>user</type>
			<userFunc>Org\OrgExtension\Backend\PluginClass->customField</userFunc>
		</config>
	</TCEforms>
</settings.pluginOptions>

For anyone else looking for a similar solution;

The userFunc tag references a method, customField, in a class, PluginClass, that simply generates and returns the HTML we need. Everything we want stored in the database can be passed through an inputfield named pluginOptions